KARACHI: An anti-smuggling unit and Kharadar police recovered a huge amount of smuggled betel nuts worth millions of rupees from Karachi’s Jodia Bazar.
According to details, Karachi’s customs intelligence received information on Nov 1 regarding the presence of smuggled areca (betel nut) at Jodia Bazar for its further transportation and disposal into the local market.
After receiving the tip, Customs Intelligence and Investigation (CII) Director General Zahid Khokhar directed his team to conduct a raid and eliminate further transportation and distribution of smuggled betel nuts in the city.
The raid was led by an anti-smuggling team that seized the smuggled delivery.
The officials said the recovered betel nuts were brought to Kharadar without conducting any weighment.
After carrying out the weighment, the betel nuts were found to be 25,993 kilograms which were showed on paper as 16,093 by the Customs and ASO while the other 9,900 kilograms were sold in the open market for Rs5 million. Later, the money was distributed among the Customs and ASO officials.
Moreover, the accused persons namely Sardar Noor and Subhan Javed were released by the Superintendent ASO on a personal relationship.
The DIG South said that he was not aware of the matter; however, the facts will be ascertained after the inquiry.
